Hey all! Yes, I know I have my Mortal Instruments subs open right now, but it's my fanfiction profile and I'll make a new fic if I wanna. Childish kidding aside, this is a pre-canon fic so it'll have canon characters in it, but it won't have the current generation of characters (Ruby, Weiss, etc.). This will follow not only young team STRQ, but also other teams from other schools.

The overall premise is that Ozpin in the past was a lot more open with his trust, devising a plan to include three teams of new students from each Huntsmen Academy into his inner circle and spread their reach as far across Remnant as possible, gathering information on Salem and finding Maidens to help with combating her. The caveat? We all know how small Ozpin's circle became by the time Ruby and the others attended Beacon, which means almost all of his inner circle either dies or goes into hiding, or in the worst case defect to Salem. So be prepared if you submit to this; death is on the table.

Form can be found at the bottom of the chapter, and if you're on desktop and need to copy-paste I recommend replacing the www in the url with just an m.


I.


"Are you familiar with the kingdom of Lith, Ms. Goodwitch?"

Glynda looked up from her scroll. It was the first thing Ozpin said to her as she entered his office, his eyes glued to the files of this year's applicants.

Glynda set aside her scroll and faced him properly. "You mean New Lith, sir? In the mountains of Mistral?"

Ozpin shook his head as he flicked to the next screen, a new set of applicants showing up. "No, just Lith," he told her. "A coastal kingdom based in Vale. You can still see its ruins when you take an airship from Vale to Mistral."

"I thought those ruins were—"

"Everyone does," he said. Ozpin flicked to another screen. "When Vale sieged the small kingdom, who refused to cooperate with the demands for peace, all traces of its identity vanished. No people left behind, ruins mistaken by future scholars as part of Vale's kingdom—not entirely wrong, but certainly not right either."

Vale had done such a thing in the past? Glynda wasn't surprised or shocked—just caught a little off guard at the sudden history lesson on old Vale conquests.

"You're thinking Vale destroyed Lith," Ozpin stated. As soon as he said it, Glynda knew she'd assumed wrong. "Lith destroyed itself—a last effort to keep their culture and lifestyle from being tainted by Vale's own. They set fire to the kingdom and fled; one half deeper into Vale, the other across the sea to Mistral."

"I see. But, if I may ask—"

"Why the sudden lesson on Lith?" Ozpin smiled and dismissed the files. Glynda's scroll pinged, the applications for Beacon having been sent her way. "I felt a little nostalgic. Would you mind looking over the files I've sent you? We have some interesting students coming to our school—I'd like to hear what your stance on some of them may be."

Ozpin turned in his chair then, hot cocoa mug in his hand as he gazed out the large window wall. In the distance, the faintest outline of airships could be made out as they approached Beacon's landing pads. This year's new students, wide-eyed and unaware of just how much work they'd need to put in to become proper huntsmen. Glynda stared alongside Ozpin for a while—then glanced back at the headmaster, a thought passing her.

"Sir," Glynda said quickly, "would it be untoward to ask for information on Lith? You've piqued my curiosity."

Ozpin hummed. "Well, it is a curious kingdom. I'll forward the files I have on Lith to your scroll."

As he said this, he reached blindly for his own scroll and tapped a few files, and then he was waving her off. Confirmation the files were on their way. No sooner did Glynda turn on her heel to leave, glasses pushed back up her nose neatly, her scroll blipped with more files from Ozpin. The information on Lith was barebones, but it was enough: A flag, or at least an approximate design, of the kingdom; a location on the maps of Vale and Mistral; photos of ruins Glynda once assumed belonged to Vale; and then, of course, a rough history of its trade, its royal family, its religious beliefs. Glynda hummed once, surprised that Ozpin knew all this yet historians didn't. But then, it was Ozpin. He knew things no man should know—nor would want to.

She moved on to the applicants for this year. Glynda looked idly over the folder titled Beacon, not quite registering the other three being the names of other schools. But once she saw Atlas had its own folder, Glynda stopped walking. Why would she need to see the students going to other schools?

Glynda shook her head. No, Ozpin may not have said anything, but if he'd sent them to Glynda then he wanted her input on all of the schools' students. He worked in mysterious ways, but his intentions weren't hard to figure out.

Among those applying to Beacon, someone with an emblem similar to Lith's caught Glynda's eye. One Calluna Oldspell, a Faunus who'd been recommended by a Beacon alumnus. Glynda looked over her file—found a few interesting pieces of information. Glynda had never even heard of the village Calluna hailed from, but she would wager a guess Ozpin had.

And when she dared a peek at the Atlas file, another familiar emblem. Similar to Calluna's—and in turn, similar to Lith's. Dahlia Midnight had a mostly empty file, her qualifications minimal but her assessment from Atlas staff filled with praises. Glynda searched further, discovering that Dahlia was from Anima rather than any area in Solitas, and suddenly it dawned on her why Ozpin was so fixated on the old kingdom. Dahlia and Calluna had to be from the kingdom's descendants, their emblems and counties of origin were too aligned with Lith's barebones information.

Glynda cast a glance towards the airships heading to Beacon. If Ozpin was feeling nostalgic about Lith… perhaps these young ladies were to be watched closely.


She watched as the others exited the airship in an orderly fashion. It had been a long trip, long enough that some were already getting to know each other, and it was endlessly boring to sit through. She already had to sit through some routine an apparent pair of twins had, one flirting while the other scolded, and now she was watching as others around her gossiped about who they'd wanna be in a team with.

It made Marza roll her eyes at times. Barely through the front door and orientation and they were being picky about who would be the best fit for them. Marza may have been picky, too, but at least she was willing to wait for more than the surface level impressions.

She observed some as they made their ways through the courtyard, awestruck and admiring Beacon's design. A young girl in a white cloak slowly pulling down her hood, silver eyes glistening as she walked in a daze. A Faunus girl with a single horn, easygoing and attracting attention from her peers as she wandered with the larger group. A blond boy with his arms tucked behind his head, grinning as he surveyed the other students.

And then met Marza's gaze. Marza scrunched up her face and started walking again, but apparently meeting someone's gaze meant you wanted to talk. No sooner had he spotted her, the blond was at her side and already trying to strike up a conversation.

He drew attention to her weapon rather quickly, circling her as they walked and talking about how interesting the tonfas were. Marza just walked faster—please, for the love of everything good in the world, leave—and reached for Cookies & Cream absently. Marza had been hoping to stay under the radar for at least the first week, but her luck seemed to be abysmal.

Finally he seemed to remember his manners, stopping her by jumping in front of her and making a surprised face. "Oh, shoot, I never introduced myself."

"You didn't," she said dryly.

A hand was shoved in front of her, making Marza recoil. She sidestepped him, nausea setting in at the thought of touching him; he barely got past his first name, Taiyang, before Marza was speedily walking away.

People were so friendly in Vale. She hoped this wouldn't be a trend—people just halting her altogether to talk about nothing. Expecting her to touch them. Marza shuddered. Even with gloves, it was too much to ask for. As much as she respected Brook's plan for her, Marza felt like Beacon was a… poor choice.

It was easy enough to find the entrance to the auditorium, the students filing in and taking their seats. Marza wasted no time sitting herself down in one of the farther seats. The turnout of students was nothing to scoff at, she found—easily, their numbers rivalled the village back home and then some. Though compared to the village… she was sure even some of the villagers had more spine than a few of these students. And sense of restraint. She caught sight of a few flouting their looks and strength, even as they were signalled to quiet by the headmaster's entrance. And Marza counted at least a half dozen actually listening when the microphone was tapped and Professor Ozpin let out a loud clearing of his throat.

All eyes were on him then. He was young, young for a headmaster, but the signs of ageing were there: Silver streaks in his black hair, a weariness to his expression that even Marza could see. The life of a Huntsman was taking its toll, no matter how you looked at it.

Ozpin regarded everyone with an almost thoughtful stare before he actually spoke again. His voice was collected, the kind of diplomatic voice that people stopped to listen to in dire times. "Welcome, all of you," he greeted the students. "I express great gratitude in your interest and pursuit of a Huntsman lifestyle, as well as your pursuit of knowledge. You walked into this auditorium as fledgelings, and when you graduate from Beacon you will be champions of the people, dedicated to the protection of those around you."

How poetic, Marza thought. Perfect for a man who ran a school that hoped to pump out fighters for the people.

"However," Ozpin went on, his voice taking a sharp turn. Marza sat up a little straighter, surprised by his tone. The pleasantries were over, it seemed. "As you are now, you have a long road ahead of you. All of you, wasted energy in need of purpose. Of direction. I know some, maybe even all of you, assume that knowledge alone will free you of this; but you'll soon come to learn that knowledge can only take you so far. It is up to you to take the first step."

Hopeful, but realistic. Marza let out a thoughtful hum. Maybe Ozpin wasn't as much of a dreamer as she thought. He certain was less of one than Brook was.

Ozpin seemed to be done. He stepped away from his microphone, gesturing to the blond woman by his side. She took over, instructing everyone to set up for the evening in the ballroom and get a good night's rest for tomorrow's initiation. Directions to the lockers were given out, and Marza took her sweet time making her way over. As long as she avoided too many people crowding her, as well as the annoyingly social Taiyang, things would be fine.


Rules for this fic:
1.)
Obviously no Gary Stus and Mary Sues. I know I shouldn't need to specify this, but still. Let's keep the characters from being nigh unbeatable legends of their time.
2.) Make sure at least the first or last name of your character has a colour allusion. Otherwise I'm telling you to overhaul the whole thing and potentially rejecting them.
3.) I'll allow for Semblances similar to canon, since some Semblances are noted to be similar anyway.
4.) Make sure you send this in PM format, and you title it "Smothered Mate: Character Name, Preferred School". For example, Smothered Mate: Marzapan de la Creme, Beacon.
5.) Not really a rule but more of a preference: Please give some feedback every so often and remember that death is on the table for everyone not already confirmed to be alive as of V7.


Form

I.) - Basic

Name: Make sure it fits the RWBY colour naming rule

Colour Allusion: Tell me which colours are being alluded to by their name

Age: First years only, I'll allow early admissions - 15-17 years old

Birthday: Format it like this - January 1st

Gender: Open to any, I'm not fussed if there isn't an even male to female ratio

Species: When making a Faunus, just remember that some places will be more accepting of them than others. Otherwise, just specify either Faunus or human here

Sexuality: Open to any

II.) - Appearance

Height: You can put it in either ft or cm, but in fic I will be using ft

Skin: What is their skin tone?

Hair Colour/Style: I'll allow unnatural hair colours since, y'know, it's RWBY, and half of the characters in canon have hair colours alluding to their colour themes

Eye Colour: Same goes for here, but I'm limiting heterochromia for obvious reasons

Build: Describe their build - are they more bulky or lithe or what?

Faunus Trait: List their Faunus trait if they're a Faunus. If human, just skip this

Extra Markings: Any extra markings they have? Freckles, blemishes, tattoos?

First-Year Outfit: What they wear when introduced. This will be like V1-3's ensemble, their "starting" clothes

Second-Year Outfit: What do they wear in their second year? This will be like V4-6's ensemble, their "character growth" clothes

Third-Year Outfit: Finally, what do they wear in their third year? This will be their "ideal self", how they can be seen as an adult Huntsman or Huntress when they go out into the field

Uniform Style: What do they accessorise their uniform with/how do they wear their uniform?

Extra Outfit(s): Any extra outfits, like a formal outfit or pyjamas or casual clothes.

III.) - Personal

Country/Continent of Origin: Not everyone necessarily came from the same continent as their school.

School of Choice: Rate the schools from 1-4, 1 being most desired backup and 4 being least desired. This is mandatory as not every school will be able to fit everyone.
* Beacon:
* Shade:
* Atlas:
* Haven:

Background: Their history can be as brief or detailed as you want, but I need to know what their life was like at least.

Family: List as many family members as you want, but I am gonna veto too many orphans or too many families that are just "mom dad and siblings" with no other information. Family can show up in the plot, guys!

Personality: If I don't see a hundred words, I'm putting them at the bottom of the list. Personality is like background, I need to understand your character!

Alignment: Are they Chaotic, Lawful, Neutral? Good, Evil, Neutral?

Likes: Can I see at least three? The teams gotta find common ground

Dislikes: Same as above

Hobbies: They have to have at least one hobby that isn't fighting or slaying Grimm

Fears: If there's no fear listed, even an unconventional fear like my own of seaweed, they're very unlikely to be accepted

Emblem: What's their emblem?

IV.) - Combat

Weapon Name: What's the name of their weapon?

Weapon Type: What forms does it have? How does it look?

Fighting Style: How do they fight? Are they more of a tank, a supporter, what?

Aura Colour: As long as their aura colour isn't black, I'll allow any colour. Try to make it fit with their colour allusion, though

Semblance Name: Basic name of their Semblance

Semblance Effect: How does it work? I won't allow too overpowered Semblances, but I will allow for some that are similar to what's seen in canon

Strengths: I will allow 5 strengths maximum. If you have more strengths than weaknesses, they'd better be balanced

Weaknesses: There needs to be at least 4 weaknesses minimum. If you have less weaknesses than strengths, they better be balanced

V.) - Schooling

Preferred Partner: For their respective entrance exam

Preferred Teammates: The kind of team you see them vibing best with?

Best Classes: Just list whatever classes they're good at. Not necessarily top of the class in

Worst Classes: Which classes do they need to improve in?

Reason for becoming a Huntsman/Huntress: Straightforward - why this lifestyle?

VI.) - Extra

Love Interest?: If yes, let me know what kind of person they'd like. And no, unless that person is unconfirmed to have a partner (Qrow, Ironwood, etc.), you can't list a canon character as the love interest

Plot Ideas?: If you have a plot you wanna see, list it here! There's a good chunk of time going to be dedicated to these plots!

Would your character defect to Salem at any point? Why/Why not?: Exactly what it says

What's the name of Marza's weapon?: So I know you guys read the fic. No skipping this one!

Anything Else?: Anything not listed, put it here. Theme songs, what have you